TSS FC Rovers won their first Juan de Fuca Plate in considerable style, becoming the first champion ever to sweep the first two legs of the Plate series home and away and turn the third game into a dead rubber. With the Rovers very much alive in the USL PDL Northwest Division playoff race and Victoria smarting, the game at Centennial Stadium on Friday, June 29 will still be an important one... but British Columbia's highest soccer honour has been decided early.

The Plate will remain in the Lower Mainland until the summer of 2019, when, with the Canadian Premier League coming to Langford and the future of British Columbia soccer entering a very exciting new phase, the rules for the sixth Plate will be decided upon.

Rules and About the Juan de Fuca Plate

The Juan de Fuca Plate is a supporter-sponsored competition for British Columbian clubs in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (USL PDL), a semi-professional league with clubs in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean.

Founded in 2012 by supporters of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Victoria Highlanders, the Juan de Fuca Plate is meant to spur interest across British Columbia in soccer at the semi-professional level, and to inspire good-natured rivalry between the competing cities. Standings in regular season games between all USL PDL teams in British Columbia count towards the championship. Every year, the winner will receive the Juan de Fuca Plate.

After a two-season hiatus the Juan de Fuca Plate returned for the 2017 USL PDL season. For both the 2017 and 2018 seasons the competing teams were the Victoria Highlanders and TSS FC Rovers, with Victoria winning in 2017 and TSS in 2018.

The rules of the 2018 Juan de Fuca Plate are:

The winner of the Juan de Fuca Plate is the United Soccer League Premier Development League (USL PDL) team in British Columbia with the best record in the league in games between these teams.

The winner is determined by the following criteria.

Points in eligible games

Goal differential in games between the tied teams

Goals for in games between the tied teams

Away goals for in eligible games

If all teams involved play the same number of games against each other, all games count in the Plate standings, regardless of the number of games that are home or away. If there are a different number of games between each competing team, the rules will be adjusted as required for a level playing field.

At the end of the match where the winner has been determined, the champion shall be awarded the Juan de Fuca Plate.